This video was the culmination of many laborious hours (aka weeks) combing through months (aka years) of footage since my initial trip to the Himalayas in 2009. My incredible team at The Hockey Foundation wanted to make sure we did things right before we were finally ready to share what we consider a very special video.

"How Hockey Helps" is the product of 7+ years supporting ice hockey in...

Want to know all about The Hockey Foundation? Who we are, what we do, where we support? This video is the culmination of many years of supporting ice hockey in India and tells our story and the story of how hockey changes lives.

This video was the culmination of many laborious hours (aka weeks) combing through months (aka years) of footage since my initial trip to the Himalayas in 2009. My incredible team at The Hockey Foundation wanted to make sure we did things right before we were finally ready to share what we consider a very special video.

"How Hockey Helps" is the product of 7+ years supporting ice hockey in...

You may or may not be aware that along with being the founder, Head Coach and Executive Director of The Hockey Foundation, I'm also the Head Coach of the Indian national ice hockey team. Yes...that's right...India has an ice hockey team.

Let's get a few things out of the way here...

While on the surface it may appear to be similar, no, it's not like Jamaican Bobsled (as depicted in the movie "Cool Runnings". Whereas in Jamaica it was a group of men who trained for the Olympics in the US for a sport very much unfamiliar to their nation, in India, ice hockey has been around for about 100 years in the mountainous regions where the game can actually be played outdoors, and we do not compete at a level even close to the Olympics. In fact, we're one of the lowest ranked teams in the world, and that's OK.

The players on my team are comprised of military and civilians. They're respectful, hard-working, absolutely love ice hockey, and come from limited means. Many do not own the equipment that they use, often borrowing from their friends that do not get the opportunity to represent their country in the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia, a developmental tournament for low/un-ranked Asian hockey nations. Due to the lack of popularity and support for ice hockey in India at large (it's immensely popular in Ladakh, where 90+% of ice hockey in India takes place), the players have to pay their own way in order to play. It's an unfortunate reality. Until the team can garner some sponsors and/or government support (unlikely, considering the significant preference for cricket in India) the players will be expected to pay for themselves, which many can't do, ultimately creating a financial burden on their family and reducing the pool of players available to play for Team India.

It became clear to me a few years ago that coaching the Indian team is not an objective or of The Hockey Foundation, nor is it relevant to the mission. By no means does that diminish the importance I place on having the responsibility to select, train and coach those players. I am honored to have the opportunity to be the head coach of a national team, no matter our performance, and I care deeply for the success of the program and the players, coaches and officials that have been a part of it.

Recently though, it's become clearer how The Hockey Foundation could and should support the Indian national ice hockey team. Prior to and during last year's Challenge Cup of Asia, I had multiple budget meetings with the team, first as the bearer of bad news when I announced how much each player would be expected to contribute, then as the cheerleader, writing and sending letters to local officials to solicit support for their local athletes, then as banker, collecting funds, then again as the bearer of bad news, telling the players that they owe more money due to a handful of avoidable circumstances, and finally as possible ameliorator, coming up with some solution that could potentially help players reduce/recoup costs. This is where The Hockey Foundation comes in...

First, I thought about all of the jerseys being worn by the players. These jerseys would most likely sit in a room for 8 months before being worn again in the following winter by those players that got to wear their nation's colors. But couldn't those jerseys be more beneficial if sold to collectors and/or supporters? Not only would someone be able to acquire a truly rare and collectible piece of hockey memorabilia, but the proceeds would be divided between the players themselves and The Hockey Foundation, as facilitator and mediator in the process. Many of the players wanted to retain some of their jerseys, so I was able to ensure that every player received another set of new jerseys upon their return to India from the Challenge Cup of Asia, which was hosted in Bangkok in March, 2013. Everyone got to retain their memento for playing on Team India, and we all agreed that this was a great way to make back some of their significant financial burden.

But for those that can't afford a game-worn jersey, the Ice Hockey Association of India was able to have a handful of official Team India jerseys made before my departure from Delhi, with proceeds supporting The Hockey Foundation as a unique fundraising memento.

A new plan of action for this upcoming season is to be proactive in the team's fundraising efforts. To date, every player that has played on the Indian national ice hockey team is either from or lives in Ladakh. They are a part of the community that The Hockey Foundation supports in our programming, and many have participated in our coaching clinics. This year, all players have been notified, well in advance, of the expectations placed on them, including the incentive in driving enrollment in our coaching clinics, as we collect a nominal fee for the Ice Hockey Association of India to support the national association's growth and development. The more we raise in India, the more money that can be allocated to the national team, and ultimately less is expected from each player/family. This push for Ladakhis to take ownership over their own success is a major mission of The Hockey Foundation, as Ladakh has an issue with apathy, complacency and a reliance on outsiders to keep on giving money and equipment. We've adjusted our methods for donating hockey equipment due to this realization, and have become more strategic, thoughtful, and collaborative in our distribution of equipment and the expectations associated with an organization receiving our support. It's a constant work in progress, but one I'm happy to undertake and improve.

Although being the head coach of the team is not a part of The Hockey Foundation, I believe supporting the players, the team and the association are, and that support in turn helps The Hockey Foundation. Our organization's are inextricably linked. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Hockey Foundation is offering a raffle to support our fundraising efforts in advance of our next trip to India. We're excited to offer you some unique raffle prizes, and wanted to take this opportunity to explain what makes each prize significant to our us, and hopefully to you as well.

If you've been thinking about donating, this is a great option to get a little something in return beyond supporting a great cause, changing the lives of countless children (and adults!) and being a part of something bigger than oneself, of course.

Green Vibrance, is a green super food. It's a powder of many greens, and then some! There are 74 ingredients in Green Vibrance, with 25 billion probiotics per serving, and can be mixed in water, juice or other liquids. When our team of coaches is in Ladakh, one of the biggest problems we all have to deal with relates to our diet, but it's not what you think. Sure, Ladakh is in India, a country famous for "Delhi belly", a particularly un-fun food-borne stomach illness, but Ladakh has cleaner spring water than most of India, and rarely gets to a temperature (especially in the winter) that allows harmful bacteria, viruses and protozoa to fester and multiply. The problem in Ladakh is that during the winter there are very few options for a nutritious balanced diet. That's not to say our team is looking to eat as per the famous USDA food pyramid (there are too many Pringles and Snickers consumed), but the distribution of vitamins and minerals doesn't seem to be present in the salt & carb-heavy diet of Ladakh. Green Vibrance has been the complement and supplement that keeps our team healthy, energetic and digesting well. When they return to lower parts of India, such as Delhi, Green Vibrance adds the additional support of keeping our team "regular", as the probiotics digest much of the stuff that can contribute to "Delhi belly" and the rest of the ingredients boost immune system and digestive system function, creating a tough battle for the harmful organisms. The taste is pretty neutral, and with some juice, it's barely noticeable. The benefit is obvious! Vibrant Health has donated two 30-day supplies of Green Vibrance for our raffle, ending 11/25/13.

Being a New York City-based non-profit, we're excited to offer 2 annual memberships of Citi Bike, courtesy of NYC Bike Share. This new bike-share program is less than a year old and already seen over 10 million miles traveled in over 6 million trips by nearly 100,000 annual members & countless 24-hour & 7-day pass-holders. Riding a bicycle is one of the best ways to train for hockey. The leg muscles get a great workout that contribute to power, endurance, agility and overall wellness. Players like Jaromir Jagr and Chris Chelios are famous for riding bikes before and after hockey games to maintain peak physical conditioning. Whether you own a bicylce or not, having a Citi Bike membership is a great perk for any New Yorker, as sometimes you don't want to drag your own bike around all day or lock it up in areas that may not be reliable. For non-New Yorkers, if you have a friend or family member that lives in the area, this is a great gift for the holidays, but you can only win it if you enter our raffle, ending 11/25/13.

10 Skate-sharpenings, courtesy of NYC Skate Pro

Keeping with an NYC-theme. NYC Skate Pro, the pro-shop at City Ice Pavilion in Long Island City, Queens, has generously donated a card for 10 free ice skate sharpenings, whether it be hockey, figure or speed skates. Sharpening ice skates in NYC is an expensive endeavor, especially if you skate regularly, and there are few locations that facilitate this service. It goes without saying, this is a great prize to win, but only if you enter our raffle.

Authors Dave Bidini and Kerry Fraser (the famed helmet-less referee) have both generously donated their hockey books to support our fundraising efforts. Every trip, we donate books about hockey to schools in Ladakh, whether the books be instructional, fiction or in this case non-fiction. The Final Call is a collection of stories stemming from Kerry Fraser's final season in the NHL. Tropic of Hockey is about one man's journey to find hockey in unexpected regions around the world. Needless to say, we identify with that mission, as The Hockey Foundation operates in Northern India! Of course, you can pick up these books on Amazon, but for only $20 you'll get 5 chances to win both, and still have 4 more chances to win something else!

It's said all the time, but founding and growing a non-profit is not easy work. Even when things are done properly, there are many challenges. One of the key principles of The Hockey Foundation is to teach all of the children we coach that they must work through adversity. Hockey is a challenging sport that requires discipline in mind and body, and learning to conquer those challenges on the ice directly leads to learning to deal with adversity off the ice. This is fundamental to all sports, but as hockey lovers, I'm sure we're all together in believing that hockey is the premier sport for challenging players to work through adversity.

2013 began on a high note for The Hockey Foundation!

Shortly before departing on another trip to India to coach hockey throughout Northern India (Delhi, Shimla, Ladakh, Kargil) - something I'll write about in future posts - we took in a large quantity of donations & completed form 1023, the application for tax-exempt status from the IRS (US Government). Prior to this, The Hockey Foundation was (and is) incorporated as a tax-exempt organization in New York State, where we are based out of. This was a necessary and incredibly important step in the development of The Hockey Foundation, since form 1023 is required to obtain the coveted 501(c)(3) status.

The application took many months to prepare. Being a small organization with limited resources, I wrote most of the content, with help from the law firm that represents The Hockey Foundation, Proskauer Rose LLP, and some financial reporting support from a friend. Together, we edited the application over and over again, making sure every detail was covered. Altogether, after completing a long application unto itself, the Appendices of form 1023 was over 7,000 words!

I also worked to ensure that all state filings were current and accurate, and that the organization moved it's office of incorporation from Long Island to New York City (there's more support available within the city than in the suburbs, as one can probably imagine).

It took a lot of work, but ultimately, everything was completed, and just a few short days before returning to Ladakh, India in January, I mailed out the form to the IRS. Of course I didn't expect to get a response within a couple of weeks. But I did expect to get a response within 90 days, as we worked so hard and diligently on being thorough.

I routinely checked the IRS website to see if The Hockey Foundation had been added to their tax-exempt organization database, even when I was actively fulfilling the organization's mission in India. Nothing.

In the middle of this programming, I stumbled across a grant that seemed tailor-made for The Hockey Foundation. The deadline for submission was smack in the middle of Ladakh programming. There was a night where all of my assistants, volunteers and primary partners in India were sitting in a hotel lounge together, enjoying some late night snacks and drinks. I was obsessing over this grant and the support it could provide to The Hockey Foundation. It was decided that night that I would leave Ladakh for Delhi, meet with representatives at the U.S. Embassy, and dedicate my time and energy on completing this application. The assumption was that the IRS should be approving the 501(c)(3) status at any moment, and I had some volunteer coaches I entrusted with continuing the mission in my absence. This was not what I envisioned for 2013, but sometimes challenges present themselves that need to be met head-on.

The meetings with the staff at the American Center and Embassy offered some great perspective and promise, and so I tried to utilize what I learned while filling out the grant application. Additionally, the volunteer coaches seemed to be holding their own in Kargil District, and provided me with the reassurance that as The Hockey Foundation grows around the world and starts to have overlapping schedules, the mission can be fulfilled by people other than myself, which is a concern of mine, being the founder and Executive Director of this organization.

If there's anything I've learned in my travels and experiences, it's not to get too comfortable when things are going well (conversely, don't sweat the small stuff when times are tough). The 501(c)(3) status never came, a mandatory requirement for the grant, and as a result, the deadline was passed without submission.

With the grant application behind me (at least for this year), I started to press on why the 501(c)(3) status hasn't been granted. In so much of life, timing is everything, and for The Hockey Foundation, timing has been one of our greatest challenges.

The past 12 months have been particularly challenging for the IRS as well. First came a U.S. government sequester, which reduced all government spending by 10%, impacting staff resources. Shortly thereafter, a scandal at the IRS based on the determination of tax-exempt 501(c)(4) political organizations erupted. The office that determines the status of 501(c)(4) exemption is located in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is the same one that determines exemption for 501(c)(3) organizations. Scandals typically force organizations to reallocate resources in order to address the issue at hand. While I am not privy to the inner workings of the IRS, it's hard to imagine them being exempt from this organizational behavior.

Finally, and most importantly, there seems to be a few clarifications needed on our application, due to either a misfiling by the IRS or an oversight by the applicant, in the case, me. We've been waiting for 6 months to be told what clarifications are requested and required, but have yet to hear from our venerable Internal Revenue Service. Surprisingly, for an organization that knows so much about the population it collects from, they're incredibly difficult to contact, especially in the case of non-profit exemption determination (the other E.D.)

So what does this all mean?

Well, quite a bit, and very little good.

When an organization applies for 501(c)(3) status, they are legally able to operate as a federally tax-exempt non-profit, so in this regards, The Hockey Foundation is doing so. Unfortunately, no database can verify that, since the determination isn't finalized, so there are many services The Hockey Foundation is not eligible to receive or utilize (too many to list) and more importantly, it prevents The Hockey Foundation from applying for and receiving foundation grants, governmental grants, corporate charitable giving, and large-scale donations (even though it shouldn't). This has slowed the progress of growth for The Hockey Foundation, and in case you can't tell, has been frustrating to deal with.

That being said, dealing with adversity is a key principle of The Hockey Foundation, and if I and the organization I founded can't handle a few setbacks, then we shouldn't be doing what we do. We're looking for more ways to get in touch with the IRS to figure out how to resolve this issue, we're partnering with organizations that are more concerned with supporting a great cause then just getting a tax benefit, and have already facilitated a major donation of equipment that was sent ahead of me so that when I arrive in India this winter, we'll once again set organizational records for equipment donations around the region. We're still able to operate as a non-profit and collect donations, so please consider contributing to ensure we can keep fighting the good fight!